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Preparing for Life without Danny (Bruno)

Danny Granger left Conseco Fieldhouse without comment Monday afternoon. But how he left the arena, and where he was going, said a lot.

After watching practice from the sideline with his bruised right heel in ice, Granger left the practice court on crutches, bypassing the media and saying only, "I've got to go get my MRI."

The Pacers didn't expect to have results of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging until Tuesday but Coach Jim O'Brien said after practice he was preparing to be without the team's leading scorer for awhile.

"That's my mindset," O'Brien said. "I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, but I'm preparing for the worst."

If Granger is out an extended period, that would be a major blow to a struggling offense. He's the team's leading scorer (24.4) and biggest 3-point threat. In fact, other than Granger (who's hitting .356 from the arc), the Pacers are shooting 27.1 percent.

The most likely candidates to replace Granger in the lineup would be either Brandon Rush or Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy has been limited to roughly 20 minutes in his first five games since returning from a length rehab from knee surgery.

"We're going to have to (adjust) because he's our leading scorer," said T.J. Ford. "That's 20-something points that'll be gone. Collectively, it's not one individual that's going to be able to make up those points. It's going to take multiple people to make up for it.

"It gives the next person an opportunity to step up. You've got a lot of guys, Brandon Rush, Luther Head, guys you have to call upon to come out and be productive. So this'll give those guys an opportunity."

Granger, who has been bothered by the heel bruise since the preseason, aggravated the problem early in the third quarter Saturday night in the Pacers' 88-72 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. On a drive into the middle, he pulled up lame, lost the ball and dropped to the floor. He was helped off the court by trainers Josh Corbeil and Carl Eaton and did not return to the game.

Granger missed the Pacers' 86-73 victory over the Clippers on Nov. 25 in Conseco Fieldhouse with a sprained knee. The Pacers are 14-8 all-time in games Granger has missed.

Re: Preparing for Life without Danny (Bruno)

Larry is not coming back, he didn't have a meeting with Orlando for not reason, yeah he is coming back to the NBA but not to the Pacers, the notion that he is a taking a year off and then come back is absurd.

Re: Preparing for Life without Danny (Bruno)

I'm guessing that this could be considered a "silver lining". Last season...due to injuries to other players....BRush was forced to "step up"...which he thankfully did. With Granger out...and Dunleavy in...while playing alongside Inferno.....hopefully, he can find the confidence that he had after the ASB last season.

The same can be said for the Frontcourt where Granger was playing some backup PF minutes. The way I look at it....this will either make JO'B play Murphy and Foster far more minutes then they should be ( which most of us pray won't be the case ), Hansbrough could get more minutes ( when the Medical Staff says it's okay to expand the # of minutes ) or ( hopefully ) Solo gets some minutes at the PF/C rotation.

Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

This is David West, he is the Honey Badger, West just doesn't give a *****....he's pretty bad *ss cuz he has no regard for any other Player or Team whatsoever.